The CARBONES global information service will deliver the first ever consistent, high space- and time-resolution history of the carbon cycle, with associated uncertainties and attribution to controlling processes. This is in response to the pressing need for detailed information on CO2 fluxes and carbon pools. The history of the carbon cycle will take the form of a calibrated 30 year-long re-analysis of space and time variations of carbon fluxes and carbon pools over the globe. It uses a novel approach for quantifying and understanding CO2 surface fluxes.

CARBONES is a EU-funded collaborative project that is part of the Seventh Framework Programme, involving teams from France, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and China. It is coordinated by Noveltis.

The products and diagnostics are disseminated through the Products geo-portal, charts and downloads of data, allowing climate modellers, other scientific communities and the general public easily to visualize and understand the living carbon cycle over the past 30 years.